Source: SKY_Sports
Owen regrets WC decision
Michael Owen has admitted that going to the World Cup in Germany in 2006 with England was a mistake.[LNB] The 29-year-old had just 20 minutes of action under his belt going into the tournament due to a matertarsal injury picked up when he collided with then Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson on New Year's Eve 2005.[LNB]The Newcastle striker played in all three warm-up games prior to the tournament, but during the opening exchanges of the third group game against Sweden Owen suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out for 10 months.[LNB]Since then the former Liverpool ace has played just 52 league games for the Magpies in the close to three seasons since the World Cup.[LNB]"There is no hiding from the fact that injuries have been the bane of my time at Newcastle," he told the Journal.[LNB]Not injury-prone"It is frustrating. However, and people will probably laugh, but I know I'm not injury-prone.[LNB]"If you look at my time at Newcastle, the problems started when Paul Robinson landed on my foot against Tottenham just after Christmas.[LNB]"Loads of people get metatarsal injuries but they are normally not as bad as mine. Nobody's foot would not have broken in that situation.[LNB]"I then rushed my preparations for the World Cup. I played half a game for Newcastle. [LNB]"After being in plaster for so long, my leg was de-conditioned and with hindsight, I should never have gone to Germany with England.[LNB]"It's easy to say that now, but if I had my time again, I would still have gone because it was a World Cup.[LNB]"I'm not thinking what could have been, but with hindsight, my leg was half as strong as it should have been.[LNB]"Muscles support limbs and I twisted my knee awkwardly and that was it. All that came from someone landing on my foot, so I don't think it's my fault."[LNB]StrideOwen made his return from his latest injury, an ankle ligament problem which forced him to miss five games, in the 1-1 draw at Hull City on Saturday and knows that he needs to hit form immediately to fire Newcastle to safety.[LNB]The frontman, whose contract runs out at the end of the season, comes back into a team who have slipped closer to the drop zone in recent weeks with just goal difference keeping them out of the bottom three.[LNB]"The one thing I have got a history of is taking one or two games to get into my stride again, but we haven't got time for me to do that," he said.[LNB]"Hopefully my eye is in straight away and I start knocking the goals in again immediately."[LNB]
